Hiccup, Astrid, Kara, and Frederik were completely silent as they read and reread every law in the book. They hardly noticed as the wax in the candles they were using dripped onto the table, the wicks steadily shortening until the flames were nearly at the candles' bases.

"There's absolutely nothing in here about changing someone's tribal affiliation before they come of age." Astrid pushed the law book away, putting her head in her hands. "You'd think someone would have thought of this."

Hiccup looked over at her for a second but didn't reply. He was far too busy poring over the confusing laws to notice much. Kara bit her lip as she traced her finger across the words, trying to take in every word, come up with something to twist, a loophole to use. Frederik patted Astrid on the back.

"Don't give up. There's something we can use." he said gently, a small smile on his face. "We just need to look at this a different way."

"And what other way can we look at this?" Hiccup snapped, balling his fists but keeping his voice as calm as he could. "We've been at this for ages. We've found nothing."

Kara was silent for a moment, her eyes fixed on a few small lines, her finger still on the page. "There is something. But it's... it's not a good idea."

Hiccup nearly pushed her off the bench in his haste to read the law to which she was pointing: A chief is bound to the traditions and expectations of their people, with the highest regard for the tribe's protection. A duel is uniquely exclusive for the leader of a clan. A neutral tribe must host the impasse, the chief and council as witnesses in addition to the juntas of both conflicting tribes. As an antecedent, all participants must arrive on the designated territory on the eve of the event. Adjutant or any form or auxiliary is forbidden, otherwise considered an act of war. The fight shall be to the death; the reward is complete acquisition (including spouses).

"What does that mean?" Frederik asked, leaning over his wife and reading over her shoulder.

Astrid, however, had gotten the gist of the law and was staring at her husband. "Absolutely not. You'll be killed."

"What other choice do I have?" Hiccup asked, looking her directly in the eyes.

Astrid opened her mouth but no sound came out. She shut it with an audible snap. There was absolute silence for a short while; Frederik and Kara didn't feel comfortable interrupting. Finally, Frederik decided that it had been awkward long enough.

"You're going to challenge Dagur." Frederik said, scooting forward a tiny bit. "And if you kill him, you'll take over Berserker Island in addition to Berk. Thus taking your kids back."

Hiccup stared at him for a long time before silently nodding.

"But if Dagur kills you, he takes over Berk. And is permitted to marry Astrid if he wants." Kara continued, her eyes widening.

"And he'll want to." Astrid gripped Hiccup's wrist. "Don't do this."

Hiccup wrenched his wrist out of Astrid's grasp, staring at her with a very hard expression. "Do I really have a choice?"

"We could... run! Run away with the kids!" Astrid suggested. "Fake an accident, maybe."

"And have them spend the rest of their childhood looking over their shoulders?" Hiccup shook his head. "What kind of example would that set? We can't teach them to run away when things get tough. They're Haddocks. They're probably going to have problems thrown at them for the rest of their lives."

"I admit there doesn't seem to be another option." Kara said quietly, not making eye contact with anyone. "But this still seems like a bad idea."

"Seems like?" Astrid gasped, standing up with her fists balled. "Seems? Hiccup, Dagur will kill you without a second thought! And then he'll be the chief of the Berserkers and the Hooligans!"

"And maybe I'll kill him!" Hiccup shouted, standing up and facing his wife. "Didn't you ever think of that? This could be our chance to protect our children for the rest of their lives!"

Astrid paused for a moment, her mouth agape and staring at her husband. "You're not a killer, Hiccup." She muttered in a barely audible voice. "And you're not meant to be one."

"Fine! You know what, why wait three days? Why don't we just pack up the kids and hand them to the Berserkers now?" Hiccup snarled, throwing his hands in the air.

Astrid stared at him for half a minute before realizing that she was holding her breath. She exhaled slowly through her teeth. There was no alternative and she, in her always logical state of mind, knew this to be true.

"Okay." she said, surrendering at last. "But let's wait the three days. We can prepare you."

"You can have the duel on Brawn." Kara added quietly. "We should leave tomorrow. We have an arena, we can spend tomorrow training."

Hiccup's heart was pounding but he stood tall and tried to act confident. Astrid saw through this charade at once. The Hooligan chief immediately turned and left the Great Hall, his wife, the Meathead chief, and her husband and his heels. He mounted his dragon and took off without looking back, flying directly to the largest ship with Skrill decked sails.

Dagur was having a laugh with some of his soldiers which Hiccup touched down on the deck. The gangly chief dismounted and faced the muscular one, standing erect and staring the larger man in the eye.

"I'll do it." he said in a low voice, drawing himself up even higher.

Dagur knew better than to rejoice just yet. "You'll do what?" he asked, leaning in even closer.

"You can have my kids. Hel, you can even have my tribe. But you'll have to kill me first." Hiccup continued.

Dagur took a step back and stroked his short beard thoughtfully. "What do you propose?"

"A duel. You, me, and our dragons. And any weapons we choose. At dawn the day after tomorrow." Hiccup hissed, stepping closer and hoping that his pounding heart wasn't audible.

Dagur began to cackle wildly, clutching his stomach with both of his arms and keeling over. For over a minute, only the sounds of his echoing guffaws could be heard.

"Oh Hiccup, you are desperate, aren't you?" he laughed, gasping for breath. "You're really willing to stake your whole tribe on it?"

"Yes." Hiccup said solemnly, his body tense and wishing he could punch the rest of the man's teeth out. "If it could save my children, I will do whatever it takes."

"In that case, it would be my pleasure to kill you." Dagur chortled, wiping tears of mirth out of his eyes. "I wholeheartedly accept. But the law requires that we fight on neutral territory."

"Kara the Kind has offered to allow us to duel on Brawn."

Dagur took deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Perfect. We'll leave at dawn tomorrow."

"As will we." Hiccup turned on his heel and walked up to his dragon.

"Enjoy your last night with your kids. Ever." Dagur simpered with a horrible smile.

Hiccup's insides seemed to plummet. He turned to look at his adversary and realized with a jolt that the man was surrounded by formidable weapons. It would be wishful thinking t assume that Dagur the Deranged had ever run across a weapon he couldn't use and there certainly wasn't a shortage of them on the ship or on his person. The Hooligan chief truly was no match for the Berserker. And both men knew it.

Xxx

Hiccup and Astrid paused before knocking on Gobber's door. This was partially out of hesitation to face their children without any good news and partially because they had been arguing the entire walk to the blacksmith's house.

"They're not even five yet! That kind of information would be too much to process." Hiccup whispered so that he couldn't be heard by the occupants of the house.

"And if Dagur kills you, am I supposed to just... shock them?" Astrid muttered, raising her voice slightly. "They have to be prepared for the possibility!"

"Addie's nightmares are already bad enough; do you really think this is going to help her cope any better?" Hiccup breathed, his voice sounding rather frantic.

"So you don't want her to be prepared at all. You just want me to have to straight up tell her you're dead without giving her any time to get used to the idea?" Astrid sighed. "Really think about it, Hiccup. Is that how you want her to remember you?"

"I still don't think we should tell her." Hiccup insisted.

"Speaking as the person who is going to have to break the news to her and Finn, I saw we should." Astrid whispered. "It'll be better for them in the long run to have a chance to say goodbye."

Hiccup was silent for a moment. "Okay. But we don't have to tell them everything. Just what they need to know."

Astrid nodded and knocked on the door. Gobber opened it rather dramatically, decked in flowers and wearing a bright pink bonnet.

Hiccup, completely used to this sight by now, could help smiling. "Just to be clear, this is Addie's handiwork?"

"Oh yes. Your son was rather interested in every single sharp object I possess. Fortunately, he's not very tall." Gobber gestured to his tallest shelves, which were covered in weapons.

"You know, Gobber, have you ever considered just locking them up?" Hiccup asked, rolling his eyes. "It might be easier than putting all your sharp objects on your shelves where a lot of them are hanging rather precariously off the edges."

"Fine, don't thank me for taking care of the kiddies for the last few hours." Gobber smiled and took the bonnet off of his head. "They're in bed now. Before we wake them up, tell me what you've found out."

Hiccup and Astrid walked over to Gobber's bench and sat down rather close together. Without realizing it, they had taken the other's hand and were gripping it rather tightly. Hiccup brought Gobber up to date on what they had found. When he finished, there was a ringing silence.

"Hiccup..." Gobber paused for a moment, searching for the right words. "You don't have to be your father."

Hiccup was rather surprised by this seemingly random statement. Upon seeing the confusion on his and Astrid's faces, Gobber continued.

"Your father was a great chief and he had rather big shoes to fill. And I know it must be overwhelming to pick up where he left off. But you don't have to prove yourself." the older man paused for a moment to allow Hiccup to rebut.

"I'm not trying to be my father. I'm trying to protect my children." Hiccup mumbled, squeezing Astrid's hand more tightly than before.

"I know that's what you think you're doing." Gobber said gently. "And, in some ways, it is what you're doing. But doing something this reckless, this dangerous... it's not the kind of thing you should be doing right now."

"So what am I supposed to do? Give my kids to Dagur?" Hiccup asked, gripping his knee with his free hand.

"I'm certainly not saying that either. And as far as I can tell, this is the only alternative." Gobber admitted with a sigh. "Unless... did you ever think about running away? Taking the kids to an uninhabited island or something? I mean I know it's not ideal but you'll all be alive and together."

Hiccup shook his head. "No. I have to face this head on. This is the only option and if Dagur kills me, he kills me. At least I'll have died defending my children."

"No!"

Hiccup and Astrid looked over to the staircase and were horrified to find their tiny daughter nearly diving down the stairs and running at full speed into her daddy's arms. Their son was still at the top of the staircase, his mouth open in shock and his hand frozen to the bannister.

"Don't die, daddy." Adrianna whimpered, throwing her arms around her father and clinging to his shirt. "Please don't die."

Of all the ways their children could have found out the truth, this was quite possibly the worst. Hiccup hugged his trembling, terrified daughter and prayed that he could find the right words to say.

"Addie, honey, no one knows what's going to happen." he whispered, lifting her onto his lap. "But I'm doing this so that no one will hurt you."

Adrianna shook her head, burying her face into his chest and shaking with fear. "I... I'll go with them but please don't die. You can't die!"

"Addie-"

"NO!" she screamed. "Don't do it, daddy!"

Hiccup and Astrid didn't notice Finn walk down the stairs but now he stood in front of them, his eyes wide with terror. It wasn't often that they saw him this scared.

"You're not... you're n-not going to die..." he choked out. "Because you c-cant... you have t-to... you can't."

"Come here, buddy." Hiccup let go of Astrid's hand and gently beckoned for his son to approach. He did, shuffling his feet and unblinkingly staring at his father. "To save you two, I have to fight the man who wants to take you away. And if I win the fight, I get to keep you. But he's stronger than me so... so he might win."

"But you'll fight again until you win." Adrianna tightened her grip on his shirt with both her fists.

"Finn, Addie... he's a very bad man who has hated me for a long, long time. If he wins, he's going to kill me." Hiccup held Adrianna closer and put a hand on Finn's shoulder. "But I will fight as hard as I can so I can win. So he can't hurt you."

"You're gonna die like Poppy did." Finn's eyebrows furrowed and his fear was replaced with anger. "Why would you... how come you don't wanna stay here?"

"Finn, that's not why I'm-"

"WHY?" Finn shouted. "Why do you have to fight?"

"I told you, because that's the only way to-"

"Don't fight! Just... don't!" the boy shook his head, his eyes prickling with tears that he hastily blinked away.

"It's not that simple, Finn." Astrid gently reached out and took both of his hands. "If your daddy doesn't fight, we will lose you. Forever."

Finn had no response to this except to sniffle a few times and try to wipe his eyes on the shoulder of his shirt. Hiccup had been expecting an emotional outburst from Adrianna but she was silent, still clinging to him but not interrupting. She almost seemed to be in shock.

"I don't want to do this." Hiccup said sadly, trying to convey just how conflicted he felt without burdening his children any more than necessary. "I want to stay here and be with you. More than anything. And if this is the only way I can keep you safe, then it's my job to fight for you. It's what daddies are supposed to do."

"I think it's time all of you went home and got some sleep." Gobber mumbled, feeling like an outsider but not wanting to get any closer to them at the same time.

"Yes. That sounds like a good idea." Astrid kissed her son on the cheek before standing up and taking his and Hiccup's hands.

Adrianna wouldn't let go of her father so he picked her up, holding her close and feeling her heartbeat racing against his chest. How he wanted to say something, anything, that would slow it down. Something comforting to raise his little girl's spirits. But as he said goodbye to Gobber and walked into the village, not a single word came to mind.

Xxx

The moment Hiccup woke up, his heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly by an iron fist. His arm was draped protectively over his children, both of whom decided to spend the night with their parents instead of in their own rooms. They were still and quiet. He often liked to peek in while they were sleeping and watch them for a few seconds, smiling and pulling up their covers so that they were more comfortable. His children were the gods' greatest gifts and he would do anything for them. Even die.

He felt Astrid's hand shift slightly from atop his. In the dim light, he saw his wife open her eyes and stare at him for a few seconds in complete silence. In a few minutes, they would have to awaken their children to see them off. In a short time, the young father was going to have to bid them goodbye and hope that it wouldn't be the last time he ever saw their faces. But now was not the time. The children needed as much sleep as they could get. They needed to remain peaceful and unburdened for as long as possible.

Astrid gently rubbed his hand with hers in a comforting manner, feeling every bit as tight in the chest as her husband. If this was the last full day she would ever have with him, she wanted to cherish every moment, even the silent ones. And if this was the last morning she would ever have with her entire family... her heart tightened even more.

But the fleeting moments of silence came to an end before either of them were ready. If they didn't get a move on, they would be late and they would be breaking the law and allowing Dagur and his army to come in and destroy Berk if they so wanted. They weren't sure if this was actually legal since the laws were incredibly difficult to understand but they didn't want to find out the hard way.

They lightly shook their children awake. Adrianna, not used to waking up early, groaned and snuggled in closer to her father. Hiccup put his arms around her and gently sat up, lifting her with him. Her hair stuck out at odd angles and he affectionately smoothed it down, praying to as many gods as he could that this wouldn't be the last time he did so. He had a feeling that he would be doing a lot of praying for his life in the coming hours.

The family had never been so silent as they went to their separate rooms to change into their day clothes. The twins put on their favorite colors, green in Finn's case and purple in Adrianna's, almost as if this was a good luck charm. Hiccup and Astrid put on their flight suits and packed some more clothes into a bag. By the time the family was up and dressed, the rest of the council, who had been informed of the new developments by Gobber the previous night, had arrived at the Haddock house. Lotus had also come so that she could take care of the twins when their parents were away.

"Most of us think you're making a mistake." Snotlout spoke up the moment Hiccup emerged from the house.

"Thank you for the vote of confidence." Hiccup caustically replied, glaring at him. "But I'm doing this."

"I'm not trying to change your mind." Snotlout said in a surprisingly soft voice. "I, and everyone else here, just wanted you to know what we think."

There wasn't a trace of hostility in Snotlout's face so Hiccup slowly nodded.

Toothless gently nudged his human with his nose. It was nearly time to leave and there was only one thing left to do. Hiccup's throat constricted and he felt a slight burning sensation behind his eyes as his wife and children exited the house behind him. He tied his bag to Toothless' saddle before getting on his knees in front of his son.

"Finn," he whispered so that only the boy could hear him. "I'm going to fight as hard as I can so I can come back. Don't ever think I don't want to be there for you."

Finn's lower lip quivered but he nodded resolutely. "I know." he said in a rather firm voice that reminded Hiccup of Stoick. "Just come back."

Hiccup knew that to reply would cause his tears to fall so he leaned forward and embraced the small boy, holding him tightly and praying that this wouldn't be the last time he held his son. He wanted more than anything to somehow show his little boy just how much he loved him and how proud he was of him. But all he could do was give him the biggest hug he could possibly give. When they finally broke apart, his heart nearly stopped at the look of fear on Finn's face. The young father gently ruffled his son's hair and gently pushed him to his mother.

Then came the small, timid hiccup. Adrianna stepped forward, her beautiful green eyes wide and tears spilling onto her cheeks. She was shaking so hard she could barely stand and just as Finn went to his mother, she collapsed into her father's arms, dropping Mr. Gobcup to the ground as she did so.

"D-don't go, daddy." she whimpered, her tears soaking his shoulder pad. "P-please don't go. Don't l-leave me."

Hiccup held her as tightly as he could without hurting her. He could feel her heart racing faster than it had the previous night. Or perhaps he was imagining it because she was shaking like a leaf. In her entire life, he didn't think she had ever been this frightened. And there was nothing he could say to make it better.

"Addie, you know I love you." he whispered, his voice shaking with the effort to keep his emotions down. "And I would do anything to protect you."

"Then s-stay here." Adrianna leaned back so that he was looking directly into her eyes. "Because I'm n-not safe without you."

Hiccup tenderly wiped away her tears with his thumb, not allowing himself to avert her gaze. He had comforted her when she was crying hundreds of times but this time was different. This time the only way to protect her was to make her cry more than ever before. He hated the sight of his little girl's misery, the way her body jolted with hiccups and steadily louder sobs.

It suddenly occurred to him that he may never wipe a single tear from her eye again, that he would never let her cry on his shoulder, that he could never hear the beautiful sound of her giggling through copious amounts of hiccups. And as he stared into her face, he realized that he may never see her smile again. His last moments with his baby would be spent trying to convince her that everything would be all right one day, even though he knew that by dying, he would be altering her life forever. She had always depended on him to be her hero. But what would happen when her hero failed her? She was far too young to lose her innocence in that way. And there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it.

Without any warning, a tear finally escaped from his eyelid. Adrianna wasted no time in reaching up and wiping it away. Hiccup blinked a few times and no more tears followed. His heart grew tighter with every second longer he spent holding her but he didn't want to let her go. Her fists were clenched around small sections of his flight suit, almost like she thought that by holding on, she could force him to stay.

"I love you so much, Addie." he repeated, reaching up and tucking some of her long hair behind her ear. "And I'm going to fight harder than I've ever fought because I want to come home to you. I want to be there for you, baby."

"So d-don't go." Adrianna whined in a much louder voice. "Don't d-die."

Hiccup leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. She let out another sob and clutched his suit even tighter. He reached down and picked up Mr. Gobcup, trying to hand it to her and hoping that she let go long enough to take it. She stared at it for a moment before letting go of his suit with her right hand and taking the doll. Looking determined, she immediately pinned the doll under one of the straps of the flight suit so that it was attached to her daddy's chest. Hiccup put his hand on top of hers as she finished adjusting the doll so that it wouldn't fall off.

"I won't take it off." he whispered, kissing her on the forehead again.

"Hiccup, we're going to have to leave." Gobber reminded him as softly as he could.

The chief nodded and gently tried to pry his daughter's fists from his flight suit.

"It's time to let go, baby." he said, his voice shaking with suppressed emotion.

"No." she shook her head. "You're not g-going."

Hiccup pulled slightly harder but this only resulted in her grip tightening. Her sobbing was growing louder, as were her hiccups. He wanted to take her in his arms and tell her that everything was going to be okay. But it wasn't. She was far more familiar with death and pain than any child ever should be and she was fully capable of understanding that letting her father go might cause her to lose him forever. She couldn't let that happen.

"I am going to try to come back to you." Hiccup promised, fighting the burning sensation behind his eyes. "Addie, I am doing this for you. So that no one can hurt you again."

"NO!" she screamed, her sobs sounding frantic. "DON'T LEAVE ME!"

"I have to go, baby."

"NO!" Lotus put her arms around the girl's waist and pulled her away. Adrianna kicked and screamed but it was to no avail as her strength finally gave out and she was forced to let go of her daddy. "NO! PLEASE!"

Finn watched the scene in silence. He didn't know how to react, wasn't sure if he could react. All he could do was watch his sister plead for more time with their father. He wanted more time with his father. But he knew that he couldn't have it. And with Adrianna screaming and begging her parents to stay, he decided that he was going to be as strong as he could.

Hiccup turned away, wincing as his daughter's wailing grew even louder. The entire council watched the scene, every one of them who had voted against the Haddocks beginning to regret their votes. Everyone mounted their dragons but Hiccup put up a hand to signal that they stay on the ground a moment longer.

"I love you." he told his children. "Don't ever forget it."

And with that, twenty dragons took off, trying to ignore the sobs and pleas of a terrified little girl. Snotlout gripped Hookfang's horns tightly as her loud cries grew fainter. He stole a glance at Hiccup and was unsurprised to see several tears fall down his face before he hastily wiped them away. He wanted to say something comforting, something encouraging, but as the screaming and sobbing was finally drowned out, he found himself unable to say a word.